Alphabet City

hot digity

2006-08-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

So the weather has finally started to cool down here. it was a lovely 25 C yesterday (compared to the 40 with 80% humidity that we've been encountering of late). it's much easier to enjoy yourself and stress less when you dont have sweat dripping down the backs of your legs even when you're standing in an air conditioned building. woo.

today i am going to the Museum of Natural history... got a get a bit of culture into me eh? and tonight i'll be seeing a movie in the park. ohh it'll be just like moonlight cinema in good ol' sydney town. i'm also giong to check out Zabars and eat some scrummy food.

i havnt managed to see any fringe festival theatre yet because i'm silly and lazy. but i still have a week to catch up on that. a couple of the guys that work at Atlantic have a show on which i'll try and see tomorrow. but apart from that i've just been hanging out with the girls at home. i'll really miss them when i leave, but damn it's going to be nice to be home.

it's been a long time

2006-08-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

sele and i, actually taking a break. the all american Amber. it was really nice to be in a car again. until we were on the highway. brook demenstrates the new hair do of the century. and amber shows us what water skiing is supposed to look like.

well. here's an exciting thing. i got out of the city yesterday! and saw reaaaaaaal greenery. i went up to Conneticuit with Sele, Amber, Brook, and Karim to go out on Amber's boat. it was AMAZING. and beautiful. i got a 'slight' tan. and tried waterskiiing. have a laugh at this. me trying SO HARD to get out of the freakin water. and i did, once, for about a second. haha

today i went for a mamoth walk from my place down through the ghetto and across the brooklyn bridge. which was a bad idea considering how sore and battered my body was from yesterday.

i am having a real hard time with this photo blog thing. i hate being technologically retarded.

making up for lost time

2006-07-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

so here are some much over due photo's. i apologise for the un formal ness of this entry. it's 5am i'm buzzing on coffee and have to be at school in a few hours. can't sleep. blahg. enjoy.

4th of july fun-ness from the roof top of Sele's place.

my first tree-lined street. my heart skipped a beat at this.

the new york city library. i thought it was pretty.

... and this is a pile of trash on my first tree-lined street. the street didnt look the same afterward.
don't honk? hah

birthday dreams

2006-07-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Susannah at the outback restaurant we had my birthday dinner at. She's a funny one. This, i found amusing. has anyone ever tasted this shit? don't.

here is Sele and Amber singing happy birthday to me.... i cried... it's what i do...

i had a really nice birthday. i did a scene at school, which didnt go that well, but it was ok. i had my class make me stand on a chair whilst they all sang to me. which was weird. and i cried. and Sele and Amber were so beautiful by getting me cake on my real birthday (the day before here) and indulging me all week. yay. i was sad that noone called me though. not even my mum. i think everyone forgot? i don't like birthdays. they make me sad.

schwa

2006-07-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

this transcribing is driving me crazy! you just have to forget about spelling completely and work off of sounds alone. and then you start forgetting how words are spelt and leaving "e" off of the ends of words and stuff. it's really cool though. i can't wait till i'm really good at it so as i don't have to think so hard.

fly fly away

2006-07-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

so the last two weeks have just absolutely FLOWN by. it's crazy. i can't believe the course is almost over. i don't know how i'm going to cope not doing this every day and seeing these people and having the conversations we have. it will be well weird.

i'm now finally staying with Sele in brooklyn. it's really cool. this funky warehouse type apartment with three cool chickies.

we have started our 'viewpoints' training at school - for anyone who knows suzuki - and my legs are killing me. it's so intense. i can hardly walk today and the inside of my body feels as though it's shaking. on the bright side though, i will have the nicest thighs when i return. we have also started speech class so i am learning to transcribe using the IFA (international phoenetic alphabet). i'm finding this pretty difficult because i've never been particularily 'academic'. i can make all the sounds, better than most of the americans mind you, but the written component is kinda fucking with me.

i'm hoping that i will be excepted into the full time conservatory course here. i am really loving it that much that i could just drop everything at home, you know? i am trying to negociate defering the full time program until fall next year, and am relatively hopeful that they will let me come back.

i'm doing a really bad job of eating healthy food. i'm basicly living off protein bars and peanuts and the odd piece of fruit. i know i know. i should eat properly. but it's really hard here!

i had a crazy alergic reaction to something last week. i came out in hives. everywhere. and they got so bad that the left side of my face started to swell up and go a really dark redy purple. so i got to experience a new york ER. it's funny, all those american medical shows we get where all the doctors and young and good looking, and we think "as if that's true" because all the doctors at home seem to be old, overweight and un-interested. well. let me tell you, they are a very acurate representation of an emergency room med staff. my god. i have never seen so many smart attractive people in the same place at the same time, ever. it almost made my five hour visit worth while. even if they couldnt work out what was wrong with me and ended up just packing me on penecillion and saying "to rah".

embarrassing crush #1: Dr White, Bellevue Hospital ER
embarrassing crush #2: My gay Performance Technique teacher (hey, at least it's safe!?)

and so concludes......

i apologise for the slackness in my postcard/present/letter sending. i honestly just havn't had a chance to get to a post office.

hope everything is candy in the land of Oz (and japan)

Leaving Home

2006-07-09T08:23:00.001-07:00

So i am moving yet again in this crazy city. I'm going to a hotel on the Upper West Side for a week, before i finally, finally move in with Sele for good. I guess despite the annoyance of moving so much, it's been a really good way to experience different parts of the city. I'm going to be a block from Central park this week, so am going to be able to breath in some greenery!

Shakespeare in the park is on this evening, and Zanna is going with her group, so i might go down and see if i can find them this afternoon.

other than that.nothing much happening. got lots of lines to learn! and scenes to find. and ourgroups get broken up this week which is a bit upsetting...

blhg

Leaving Home

2006-07-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Committed Impulse

2006-07-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Bullshit. Bullshit. Bu.ll.shit.

my body. hurts. i feel angry and betrayed. i need to spew.

what a fucking wank. why can't they all see through this??!

never make me do that again.

Strange Lumpy Things

2006-07-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

the mosquitos here are vicious. really. it looks like i've contracted some kind of horrible tropical disease.

went to Art Bar with "C" tonight. it was cool. hooray for group bonding! it's really distressing to everyone inoled thatwe get split up at the end of this coming week. as excited i am about working with new people, i don't want to leave my group. without sounding too pompos, we really do have the bestgroup.

arhg. my body is so itchy. they don't know what calomine lotion is here either. weirdos.

What's been missing?

2006-07-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

SUNSHINE! oh glorious glorious sunshine! how i have missed thee!

the sun came out today for perhaps - no not perhaps - the first time since i've been here! i was so inspired that i walked all the way from Chelsea through West and Greenich villages to the East village just so i could experience it a little longer. The air was fresh too! practicly breathable. oh. it was darling. Is darling. i love this city.

on my journey i walked into a plant store. which brings me to another thing i'e been missing. Greenery. it was magnificent! the Smell oh the smell was infectious. i didn't want to leave! i was smelling all the plants and grinning from ear to ear, the guy probably thought i was a nut case! i saw my first tree lined street! my god, the West village is just breath taking! and the apartments are right out of Sex and the City or something! if only i could afford to stay in that part of town. I'd drown in happiness. Truely.

Melted Thongs

2006-07-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

melted. that's how they feel. my thongs. like dirty, melted rubber. it's not friendly. i scrubbed my feet for the first time yesterday and i think it's the first time they'e been truely clean since i arrived. the side work is feral. truely. it's practicly black. my feet are black. they match my thongs.

school was loooooong today. i watched some stupid fucking bitch whore dickhead mutha fucker pooor her ooh so tiny winy WHINY bloody who gives a shit heart out on stage today. seriously. i didn't come here to watch someone have public THERAPY. go to counselling. don't bring that shit to my learning institution. have the common sense and the fucking COURTESY to say "NO. i won't inflict my personal problems on those around me. i will be mature, and sensible" and then STAY THE FUCK IN YOUR SEAT and DONT stand up and weep on stage like a baby because noone CARES you IDIOT! ok. breath lara. but seriously... what a waste of an hour of my life. i've had more productive moments watching porn.

and now that's out of my system. on with the show!

Fly-away Chimney

2006-07-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

it's hot. it's so hot. i can't think. i feel stuiffed up. i just woke up from a nap and it's 8.48pm. i have so much school work to do, but i'm not doing it. tomorrow is the 4th of July.. so it's a holiday! there are fireworks on tonight i think, but i'm not going. i'm meeting for a drink with Jessica from school and her hubby Brian. they're really nice. they're Canadian. i think Jess feels quite left out in class. she gets frustrated easily at things. i know how she feels. i thought i'd take her out to try and make her feel more comfortable. because i can see from her point, it's kinda like the rest of us have this gang thing going on (even though we dont) but i can see how she might think that. i dont know where we're going. they live around the corner, also in Alphabet City (arhg i just LOVE that name) and aparently there are heaps of cool spots to go around here, so we'll just wander. should be good. but i should also be working. tomorrow i'm going to have SO much to do. two plays to read, two scenes to analyse, some rep work, some as-if-ing, rehearse my scene, ekkkkk... and i also want to go to the beach. i hant got to wear my swimmers once since i got here and that kind of pisses me off a little. but Sele and i are going to treat ourselves and go to Coney Island (it sounds so hobo) and swim tomorrow if we get all our work done. (haha. yeh right!) a guy at her school, Jonathon, lives down there, and he says it's really nice. Sele goes to school with some awsome people. i need to get my camera off her so i can finally put some photo's up and you guys can stop being bored to death with my text! Jonathon is reaaaally good looking. i wish there was some eye-candy at my school. but alas, only hot girls... strangly which most are australian? dammit, as if i need to know about my competition here? it's dusk here. and i wish it brought with it a bit of cool relief.. but i swear it's 75 degrees out! well, i'm gonna hit the town. mwa.

UnBREATHable

2006-07-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

i hate the subway. yes. i do. there is even less oxygen inside it, than on the street, which is hard considering the lack of breathable air outside. i'm trying to adapt by not breathing at all. but the stares you get from people when your face starts turning blue and really not worth the headache, amusing though they are.

today i am moving the the East Village. its uber trendy. and uber expensive. and considering the current value of our measy Aussie dollar i think i can say with some confidence that cutting down on my intake of food is a good plan that should be augmented.

i spent 9 freakin hours at school this weekend. it's crazy. i need a break dammit. at least my group is really awsome and supportive! shout out to them.

last night i went with Sele and some girls from her school to this quaint little Italian restaurant in Williamsbourgh. We had a blast. the waiter was adorable! and Sele's friends are hillarious and we ended up staying there drinking alcohol *tap on the nose* that the restaurnt didnt have until 1 in the morn! then we went to a couple of bars and got completely beyond reasonably inhebriated and Sele and i still managed to kick the big black arses of some guys at pool! it was fun!

back to school in the morn for our second week. my task: to stay relaxed and open, and not get stressed out. positive energy. positive energy, come on guys! chanel harder! i need all the help i can get!

xx

The Break Down

2006-06-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

So yesterday i almost, almost gave up.... that's right, three days in and i'm already so exhausted that i'm closing my mind and thinking "what the fuck is going on?" "why am i here?" "these people are so amazing what can i offer them?" "i want to go home."

right in the middlew of my performance technique class i just started freakin out. i was watching this pair on stage, and listening to Brandon (our teacher speak) and i suddenly realised that i was completely lost. i had no fucking idea what they were doing. how it worked. what he was saying and i started to panic. i couldnt breath properly and the notes i was writing were just words that had no purpose for me. i was trying to ask questions but couldnt articulate what i wanted to say because i was getting so upset... and we had a break and i just burst into tears. so there i am, on the other side of the world, ina hallway on the fith floor of a building in downtown manhattan, and i'm totally loosing my shit in front of a bunch of complete strangers whom i've known in total for probably less than 24 hours! and i think that, to me, was almost as upsetting as being upset! but one of the girls in C, jen, kindly reminded me that we were all in this together, and that i wasnt going to walk away not understanding.... that was really nice of her. i like jen.

it's funny tho. yesterday was a really emotional day for everyone. someone cried in our repititon class, and three more in performance tech... granted, they were working at the time, which makes in different from me, but it was strange none the less. i think the intensity of this course is getting to us all.

it really is as if there just isnt enough time in the day to process all of the information we're taking in. for me personally i get up, read plays on the subway, go to school, rehearse, read on the subway, do homework, go to bed, get up... etc i really havnt just sat back and gone, ok, wow, so what does all of this mean, how does it pertain to me, and what am i going to do about it? but i think i'm realsing that i really need to make time to chill out, even if it's just an hour a day when i can sit and think.. you know?

i'm finally working out how to use the subway and which way is north and recignising landmarks and the like... i enjoy this city, despite the lack of oxygen, and the colour the bath water turns when you've been outside for five minutes. i having to learn to deal with dirt... because everyone knows i can't stand being dirty. man, if you could see the place Sele lived, where i'll be living in a week, you would all laugh....

Five Days In the Big Apple

2006-06-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to wednesday morning Live! From a dusty apartment in Queens, NY i bring you this bulletin.

On the floor lies a seriously crazy kitten. No really, i think there might be something wrong with him. He did spend a good twenty minutes staring intently into a corner where nothing was happening. He likes to get in the bathtub, and then whinge that he's wet, and is also fond of drinking out of the bathroom sink. He plays with imaginary things on the floor and is far too affectionet to be normal. But i kind of like him, Clay, despite the sneezing, throat scratching and eye itching i've been doing. And also the fact that he keeps me awake half the night by chewing on my toes and eating the sheet. Hey, maybe the poor thing's just lonely?

So today marked my second day of school. My god, have i gotten myself in way over my head. Maybe not, but i sure do have a hell of a job ahead of me! There are sixty seven of us in the course, eight other Australians (which has been comforting asthe American accent is really grating on the ears after awhile) and also heaps of people from around the world. We are in four groups at the moment and there are sixteen people in mine. They are all relatively cool - i think - and it will be exciting getting to know them so quickly over the next three weeks, before our groups are mixed around. There is a guy from Jamaican, a Greek, a Canadian another Aussie and an Englishman in my group which will from now on be reffered to as "C". And even out of the rest of them, there is only i think one person from NY as the others are from places all over the US.

It's been really fun using sayings and words that people don't understand. I told Jen that she was "tops" today and this look of both surprise, pleasure and bewilderment crossed her face! it was amusing. It's also been hard, as those of you who read my email will know, when i'm not understood because noone knows what cuttlery is... hey, it's lucky i didn't travel to a non-english speaking country...

right now i should be in bed, or doing some homework, or some reading, but i'm already going out of my mind with information and assignments that i just can't concentrate.

as for the rest of NY - i havn't had a chance to see much, but am hoping to go to the Gugenheim (i'll never win the spelling bee) with Zanna this Sunday if time permits. I managed to go out on my first night in town with Sele down to this cool little bar in Brooklyn near where she lives and have of course managed to fit in some shopping already!

well, i was going to post some crazy photo's of my first few days here... but - being the technological retard i am - i can't work out how to make the images small enough..... this may take a few days... sorry...

anyways. since i must be up in 6 hours time. i shall bid you adeu!

xxx

umm.... hi?

2006-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

so. i created this blog to enable me to post on polbers.... i really have nothing to say... so.... mm..